What Those Nasty White Chunks That Sometimes Come From Your Throat Are

Today I Found Out what those foul smelling, small, white-ish, chunks that you can sometimes feel at the back of your throat when you swallow are. They’re called Tonsilloliths or Tonsil Stones.

Although most people experience these little white balls at the back of the throat that often get coughed up into the mouth, this widespread affliction is rarely talked about and the awareness about it very low. Many suffer in silence believing that their alone or the occurrence is nothing more than dregs of last night’s dinner. Another reason people don’t dispense with their problem of tonsil stones is because they are embarrassingly nasty and foul smelling!

Tonsilloliths, also known as tonsil stones are stinky little globs of mucus, dead cells, debris and bacteria that form in the tonsil crypts which are simply small pockets or divots that appear in everyone’s tonsils. When the trapped dead cells, mucus, and debris harden or calcify, they form white/yellow ball in the tonsil pockets. They usually appear as tiny little chunks in the shape of cauliflower and smell like they could wake up your dead grandma.

The strong unpleasant odor is caused by a build-up of sulfur-producing bacteria that feeds on the tonsil stones collected in the crypts of the tonsils and is a combination of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, and other stinky substances that form in it. Tonsil stones can range from a size of a small peppercorn to a rather large size causing discomfort in the throat and in some cases uncomfortable side effects, including sore throat and ear pain and tonsillitis. It is also believed to be one of the reasons for Halitosis (bad breath).

Tonsil stones are fairly common in adults and children. However, they tend to occur most often in people who suffer from chronic inflammation in their tonsils or repeated bouts of tonsillitis. Studies have shown that people who have had their tonsils removed, under most circumstances, almost never experience tonsil stones.

There are some effective treatments for reducing the occurrence of tonsil stones. Removing one’s tonsils is an option, but not the best solution as tonsils play a role in the immune system and are meant to function like nets, trapping incoming bacteria and virus particles that are passing through your throat. Easy home treatments like gargling salt water, or non-alcohol mouthwash is often advised for getting rid of tonsiloliths. A water pick that emits powerful pulses of water is also a useful tool for clearing the tonsil crypts. The simplest solution is to use a cotton swab or toothbrush so you can push the nasty little things out and rinse your mouth free of them.

There are about 9,000 taste buds on the surface of the tongue, in the throat, and on the roof of the mouth. Taste buds contain chemoreceptors that respond to chemicals from food and other substances that are dissolved by the saliva in the mouth.

Your mouth produces 1 liter (1.8 pints) of saliva a day. We each produce about 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime. Saliva is required for taste—until food is dissolved by saliva, we cannot taste it.

The average American eats 50 tonnes of food and drinks 50,000 liters (11,000 gallons) of liquid during his life. It also takes food seven seconds to go from the mouth to the stomach via the esophagus.

I get HUGE ones since I have a hoke in my tonsils. What really helped alot on getting them out is the atick you would use on pimples! That have 2 sides. Using the side that is like a baby pin! Or gently using a boby pin to pull them out

i suffer from inflamed/enlarged tonsils so it makes sense that i get these and im so glad I’m not alone! also starting to think that since tonsils trap bacteria and mine are so large could be why i rarely ever get sick! looking forward to getting my tonsils removed so that i no longer have to put up with these. also excited to get rid of the myriad of detrimental things i suffer from due to my tonsils.

Dig? When I was young I would wedge my tongue back there and try to get them out, but apparently I made a really strange face and people told me to stop making it. Since then I’ve found that they are pretty easy to suck out.

Using my tongue on the top of my mouth I can suck in are tonsil area on one side or the other and give a hard suck to pull some tonsilloliths out. Often takes me a few to clear it, but that seems a lot nicer than digging. I can also do it every morning so it doesn’t build up.

I get strep throat and ear infections all the time. Then I went to see an ENT doctor and he told me about tonsilloliths and I learn to cough it out every week and for two years I never had another throat infection! Hope this helps!

I have been trying to figure out what these gross little things were for YEARS! They make my breath smell SO bad, but no matter how much I brushed, flossed, or scraped my tongue, I couldn’t get the smell to go away….now I know why! They’re stuck in my tonsils….so now I have to get buy a water pick or try to brush my tonsils….I don’t even know where my tonsils are! LOL!

Have dealt with these for years. I just use a dull tarter scraper (the hooked kind – not as scary as it seems) and pop those things out every morning. If I don’t, they will build up and be nasty. Just be real careful. It’s become routine. Have had tonsillitis at least 3-4 times in my life, they should be taken out!

I’ve had these since I was 10 years old. I am now 21. And I just stick my finger against my tonsils and push them out. They do stink. Luckily they don’t effect my breath. I just knew when I was younger that it had something to do with cancer. Lol. Luckily I’m not the only one. Hello fellow peers who share the same weird nuisance I do..lol.

I always use to get these from an early age followed by endless bouts of tonsilitis until the age of 14 when i had them removed. And yes i agree they were foul smelling and mine use to get so large that i could actually feel them when i swallowed as though there was food trapped in my throat…i’m now in my 40’s and i suffer from throat infections, but nothing as bad as what i suffered for about 10yrs as a child..that was the best thing ever to get rid of those pesky smelly lumps..lol

I always get them. They are usually white. They are usually the size of a nerd (nerd is a piece of candy) but recently I had one, it was brownish and it was the size of a popcorn. GROSS!!! When I sneezed it came out. YUCK!! While I was at work.. EMBARRISING!

So, I always thought maybe I was the only one this happened to lol. Glad I’m not the only one. They smell awful and I feel like I have to cough them up and it’s a task sometimes. I’ve been getting them since I was about 18 (I’m 20 now) and have no clue why I started to get them out of nowhere.

I gave up taking vitamin supplements, mine went away (once out) and have not come back. I guess it maybe the body’s way of purging unwanted minerals/vitamins whether from food or supplements. I hope it helps some of you.

I had them all my life and finally figured out how to get them out, so I squashed the crap out of my tonsils with anything I could get back there and could litteraly fill a small container with them. I guess I got them all out cause I didn’t have them for about three years and then out of nowhere they came back, they are so disgusting and they even keep me up at night because I can taste the fowlness on my breath and I can even feel them in the back of my throat. You would think I’m talking about something living back there but it’s like some yucky creature in your throat that won’t come out, I quests I’m gonna have to get the tools out and go ape crazy on my tonsills again cause I really don’t want to get a tonsillectomy at 30 but it looks to be that way. Any suggestions?

You are terribly wrong about them being caused by dehydration. I only drink water, roughly two gallons a day (due to other health reasons as I have three kidneys and MS). I AM so glad I know what these damn chunks are though. I have suffered with these since I was 15: am now 30. My family doctor told me they were calcium particles. Relieved that its nothing more serious. Also Ive never suffered from tonsilitis or throat infections and now I see that this issue is to thank. Super greatful for this article. It is a nuisance but so many other health issues are worse, trust me.

omg..I’m tearing up over these comments!! Like so many here, I too thought I had cancer or something..lol. I even went to my doctor with one in a little plastic “pee cup” she told me it was probably food particles..I felt unsettled..I could take no comfort in her answer. I would be so horrified at the sight and smell of these little “stink balls” I had to google and even so, was so embarrassed. What a relief to find this article..now I know. Thanks for posting. I feel so connected with you all. I laughed and I cried.

Thank you so so much! I am 13 and I have had these horrible things for more than two years now. I, like most other people here, thought I was the only one with these white monsters living in the back of my throat. I never mentioned it to anybody because I was too grossed out about it myself. For a while I was certain that I had a disease, but thank goodness it isn’t!
I cried and laughed after reading this article and the comments. lol! Feels so good to know I’m not alone!

I just starting having these annoying things last year. My twin sister got them then I suddenly got them too. I was thinking it was some mind of disease i got with her cuz we’re twins. XD I just had ot again a few minutes ago but i managed 2 swallow them (no i didnt want 2, its horrible but its the only way i can get rid of them. My sister can get them out with a toothpick though) at least my breath isnt really bad. Im glad 2 see im not the only one ^-^

I am at work and i am laughing soooooo hard at these comments. I get them too and they are foul smelling. I asked my doctor just today what are they called because when i get them, my throat is sore on the side.

So I googled “what is that nasty smelling yellowish thing that comes out my tonsils?” And came to this page. I am still laughing at the comments! I have had this for years but today was the first time I noticed it came from my tonsils and got a sore throat with it. I thought it was tartar before, LOL! I’m so glad it’s normal because I was dredding having to go to my doctor with one of those “crap nuggets” in a baggie.

LMBO! my husband jumped out bed looking at me crazy. i can’t stop laughing at these comments! i started getting those annoying horrible “stinkoids” about four years ago right after i had my baby. i never knew what they were. I am sooo relieved it’s not cancer! it is so embarassing, especially when out of nowhere, one comes up in you mouth while in the middle of a conversation lol. i’m getting my tonsils removed. i want this gone

thank you all for the comments. i didn’t have a clue what in the hell those little white maggots in my throat were. i just always thought i was a freak alien or something and golly those things stink, they smell like a pigs a$$. The first time i coughed one out in my sink i inspected it closely and the smell just about made me vomit. i squeeze those gross pearls out with my index finger kinda like popping a pimple, and after i get them out i no longer have dragons breath.

A pig’s a$$. That cracked me up! I’ve been getting these every few months since I was in my early 20s. Perfect oral hygiene will not stop tonsil stones, no matter how often people tell you that. There are a couple of things that us “stinky tonsil-hole” sufferers usually have in common. We have post-nasal drip, usually due to allergies and we usually sleep with our mouths open, which again, is usually due to allergies because we can’t easily breathe through stuffy noses.

I’ve had these for the best part of 15 years, I was prone to tonsillitis when I was younger but put it down to being tired and smoking occasionally as they would get worse after smoking. Now they seem to occur when I am tired or run down , they used to be a lot bigger but are now the size of a large grain of sand or smaller and more dispersed, I think they give me stomach ache as it tends to go hand in hand when I swallow saliva just after picking them out with my tounge. I’ve tried salt water but to be honest never kept up the routine of gargling day & night as it was a royal pain in the a*se. Had tonsillitis for the first time in 20 years a few months ago and thought the antibiotics would cure it but it’s still there. I guess I’ll just have to live with it, but occasionally it does make me a bit paranoid about potentially smelly breath. Glad to know I am not alone in this.

Bahahaha, first of all if you guys thought you had cancer why wouldn’t you go to a doctor… just sayin
My brother and I have had these for years, we call them “throat munchies” and now I know why the smell like a pile of cow-manure. thnx for all the comments

I have found using a *new nose sucker aka booger sucker with hot water and spraying the tonsils a couple of times it takes care of the problem for a time. Enjoyed the descriptive nicknames…I have always called it throat cheese. This is the stuff that keeps one humble.

I am 34 and started getting these about 4 years ago after having severe case of tonsillitis. One of my tonsils swelled up pretty badly, even scabbed over… and after I healed I guess it formed a pocket and now and then a small piece of food can get caught in it and will bother the crap outta. I have to do a lot just to get it out

This article is brilliant, Noreen! Also, these comments are fun and interesting to read! It is good that we’re all communicating about this over the faceless inter-webs… because I’m sure this has been an affliction of many many more people than just us whom have discovered this article!
I’m also sure most people don’t just go around talking about this aloud to all people.

I have discovered these things off and on over many years. They come and go… and we all agree, they ARE disgusting. I don’t like when I can feel one in my mouth. Need to spit it out immediately! Being so sensitive to smell… I hate knowing that something that foul can come from my very own throat! That is spends even a second in my mouth…Creepy! YUCK!

I’ve got a sore throat and have had some cold symptoms for a couple days… and I just spit out one of the largest ones I’ve ever had.

I remember thinking…years ago “I have impeccable oral hygiene…what is this? Why do I have it?” I knew they were coming from my throat. Told mom and she couldn’t relate. Bad breath disgusts me more than most things to do with the body… so I don’t like the idea that I could have it!
I figured I was alone. I went to my doctor… I think I did bring one in a bag years ago. She had no idea what it was or how to help me. That is scary! I’m bringing her this article!

I can’t believe this! The last time I was sick with fever &sore throat ,I went to Dr.he examined me and asked me when my tonsils were removed……here’s the kicker…..like I told my doctor ……my tonsils have never been removed…….he looked again said they are not there…….I am 61yrs young I have had those gross stones seems like forever,I actually thought they were coming from my brain……LOL ! So glad to find out what they are……I hate those Gross stones!.

So glad I finally know what the heck these things are! I get them too often and they stink soo bad that it made me feel bad for my BF poor guy cause I know it makes my breath smell bad lol Im at work and coughed and one flew out! Nasty I know…not happy about having to fish them out but damn it I sure will to get them out! Any one know how we can avoid getting them!?? I use mouth wash every night…should I step it up?
Gald Im not alone:)

Um wow! I’ve had this for years! I thought the weird taste in my mouth was from my filling. My doctors looked at me like I was crazy. And when I have coughed them up I thought it was old food stuck in my throat or teeth. Like the white film stuff you brush off. I floss, mouth wash and brush twice a day . I sometimes barely kiss my boyfriend because I’m so self conscious about the smell. I’ve tried EVERYTHING!!! These past three days I’ve had the itchy throat ears and yesterday morning my boyfriend said my breath smelled like death . I’m so self conscious about it and have been for years! 20 minutes ago I coughed them up and smelled and seriously ran to the bathroom to wash my hands omg disgusting!!!!! I’m beyond happy I just found this !! I don’t care I want these things removed! And why did my doctor NEVER tell Em about this!!!!!!?!?!?!?

I get them too pretty often (about once a month), little tiny ones up to about the size of a pea. Mine don’t smell that bad though…they have a slight odor, but nothing compared to what you all are describing. I always thought it was old food or something coming out of my lungs!! I’ve been getting them for about 5 years now I guess.

I thought I have lung cancer pharngeal cancer since the stones became red. I didn’t know this is common for people. I’ve had this for many years and didn’t know until I googled in ‘coughing up small pieces of white’ (I have no clue what you call them). I always thought it was food residuals. It would get stuck in my throat and I have to cough it out. It has a foul smell to it. I think my breath starts to smell like this tonsil crypt! Good to know that I don’t have cancer!

Haha they smell terrible, and if you think otherwise, you don’t have what we’re describing. I hate these things but can get them out relatively easy. I literally just wash my hands and push the sides of my tonsils and they pop right out. It’s really nasty…

I ALWAYS thought they were circumvallate papillae (the larger taste buds at the very back of the tongue) shedding due to infection or something. I am so glad this page exists! Tried to ask my husband if he’d ever had them and he just looked at me like I was nuts.
I’m here because I coughed one up tonight and MY DOG ATE IT!! I was horrified. She’s definitely not getting any kisses any time soon, ewww.
Just an idea- you don’t need to buy a water pick, you can use a syringe like they give you for cleaning after wisdom tooth removal… I’m gonna go clean out my tonsils now, yay!

I was drinking Pomegranate Cherry Juice today and for some reason it helped me to get rid of some that had been bothering me for a good while. Give it a try if you’re having trouble getting rid of them.

Cherry juice helped me pass one today, I’d been drinking it for a few days and it seemed to help. I tend to get these when I’m feeling fatigued with a sore throat. Once they come out I feel much better. I’ve suffered from strep, tonsillitis my whole life.

I googled n got this page and so glad i did, answered my questions and give me a hell of a gud laugh. got my first one today- got it out wasnt nasty r bad but have now got a hole on the back of my throat- fun times. i was bit woried now im extreamly entertained readin the comments. nyt

That hole that it came out of will hold more foul-smelling pearls of unpleasantness in the future…Be on the lookout for them as they seem to regrow faster than you can evict them, almost like they are waiting in line…one after another…Like sh*tty smelling pez candy in a tonsil shaped dispenser.

I thank you all because I have felt alone with this for sooo long. It tickles me to finally google it and read all of your responses. I was at work one day having a conversation and was kind of keeping my mouth tight because of the odor that i didn’t want anyone else to smell. I went to laugh at a joke and 3 small pieces flew out of my mouth. I wanted to cry but nobody actually saw it. I used paper to retrieve them and later investigated. How can something so small, stink so bad. I thought something was wrong in my stomach or something really bad was happening. THANK you all for helping me relieve the tension and worries.

I can’t stop laughing. I’ve had the same problem for years along with my sister, but these comments are hilarious. I will let my sister know about this website. I am crying with laughter at these posts. I love the term “crap nuggets”.

So tonight while I was trying to dig one of those horrible chunks out of my throat, I gagged so hard from the q-tip that I vomited totally out of control. Sprayed across my mirror and all over me, as I was running for the bathroom I almost fell..*this has NEVER happened to me ever..so be careful digging folks. Its funny as can be now that I look back, but I will now forever have a phobia about digging into my throat again. Geez I didn’t even press that hard.

Thank you so much for this post. I have been noticing a nasty taste in the back of my mouth and my ears have been bothering me, Lately my husband has been saying my breathe smells bad so I was thinking maybe I have a cavity or something. Tonight I sneezed and one of those stink bombs came flying out of my mouth. I continued to cough and a couple more came out. I was horrified and distusted all at same time! Thanks again for the info and for the laughs that I got from other post.

OH MY GOD I THOUGHT I WAS ALONE. I always assumed they were chunks of old food, but the past year I’ve been getting them almost every other day, and the past few days a really large amount have been stuck in the back of my throat, leaving me with a reeeally uncomfortable feeling. I’ve been trying to dig them all out for two days but god it’s tricky.

I’m really relieved to hear they’re not harmful or rare, just really annoying and gross. Phew.

Phew!! I thought I was just a gross individual! the smell of the first one i ever braved sniffing has haunted me, im petrified im going to cough one up when im teaching and be forced to swallow it *shudders*
Thanks so much for this article! I’m now aware its not just me, im not going to die and it also gave me a laugh

Omg, these comments are cracking me up. Hope I don’t wake my wife up laughing so hard. I started getting these when I was a teenager and asked my dad about them once. He called them “sneeze kernels” because a lot of times they show up when you sneeze. I figured no big deal and assumed they were fairly common since he knew about them, but since that day I’ve never met another person who said they experienced them (not like it comes up in casual conversation anyway). Coughed one up tonight and googled “what are those nasty smelling things from the back of my throat” and here I found myself. Glad to know there are others afflicted with this problem and theirs smell just as bad as mine I’m sure. I will admit though I’m probably a little nastier than your average bear. I’ll sometimes put one or two on my finger and try to trick my kids into smelling them. MUAHAHAHA!!! Yeah, I’m crazy, I know.

I did this to my ex-wife she was giving me a hard time about it embarrassing me ridiculing me about trying to get the nasty stuff coming out of my throat.

one day I needed one out smashed it between my fingers and held it there for a few minutes. When she wasn’t looking, I swiped it underneath her nose she instantly started gagging, and cussing at me. She ran to the bathroom and threw up. I laughed said now you see why dig my throat so much!!! Thise things taste as bad as they smell! Thy are disgusting she said, she was so pissed off she said she couldn’t get the smell from out of her nose, all I can do was laugh maybe that’s why she’s my ex-wife.

I get them to in the back of my throat from time to time.. I never tried to take them out. Once in awhile if i sneeze or kind of cough they will come out! Does anyones tonsils hurt like underneath their jaw on a throw it sore to touch?? And if you look in the back of my throat it looks disgusting. Just curious

O.M.G.(!) I’m reading this thread at work and can’t stop laughing. It’s an absolutely disgusting thing but yet funny to read others are experiencing the same drama – I guess misery really does love company. I am seriously considering consulting with an ENT about getting tonsils removed. It is embarassing. I don’t even feel comfortable talking to my own children in fear they’re going to say my breath smells. I’ll tell you this much, the gum industry is doing very well these days. :-/

So glad it’s not just me. Luckily, I haven’t had the perpetual bad breath (I make my friends smell my breath all the time. Is that normal? Lol) But those chunks smell like the inside of a dead skunk’s ass when they come up. I’ve never been able to pick them out with any kind of utensil, but when I feel them back there, I can usually work them out by sorta sucking at the back of my throat, if that makes any sense.

BUT…. The best part of this thread for me is the fact that all of us at some point coughed up something strange and immediately smelled it. Hahaha!!!

HAHAH! I find your comment hilarious because I’ve been like ..sucking in my throat all day trying to get it out of there! And my mom just thought it’s only a feeling from previously being sick until I showed her the big white chunk hiding in my throat. I haven’t really noticed bad breath along with it or bothered to wonder about the smell until I read these comments!
Thank goodness for this article, now I can tell everyone I know it’s an actual thing!!!

I usually get these if I’ve had allergies or a cold where there’s a lot of mucus drainage. It’s gross to think all that nasty stuff collects in the back of your throat. The first time I had one of these I thought I had strep (white dots in the back of the throat being one of the symptoms of strep) and got so freaked out and almost called the doctor. Then I felt the urge to touch the white spot… The thing came off of my throat and I was like “what the hell?” The thing smelled like a mixture of butthole and really bad breath. Ick! Every once in awhile I check back there with a flashlight and push on my tonsils a little bit to see if I’ve got anything in there. I could see how this could cause bad breath!… Probably smells like you munched on a terd or something! Ewww!

I’m going through this now, i can’t seem to cough them up. so I decided to look up what they were called and how to get rid of them. but I also thought I was alone in this matter. it’s funny to know I’m not the only one. lol…lol…lol! they stink like a can of shark ish and i can’t stand them!

I first noticed I had this issue when I was about 17 years old. I was scared something was wrong with me. I popped a big one out and saved it in a plastic bag to take to the doctor. I told my mom about it and she acted all weird and said that was nothing and it wasn’t worth going to the doctor about. I immediately became terribly ashamed and thinking I was alone. For years I would try to force those things out terrified someone would find out, especially a boyfriend! When I was in my late 20s I was talking to a coworker about dental stuff when she told me her dentist told her she had deep crypts where “dead things” grew. I suspected I wasn’t alone. Since the Internet I have been able to learn more about them and even how to keep my tonsils free of these things. I have learned where all my crypts are and where they lead and I flush them with a syringe with salt water. I always know when I am needing to because I get a taste of something weird sometimes then I clean them out the next chance I get. To this day, my BF of 15 years doesn’t know. It’s not sexy conversation to say the least!

Haha I love the comments. I asked my younger brothers about them once they had no idea what I was going on about so I left it. I’ve had them for a while however this morning had an almost black one :/ I think now it’s time to go to the doctors. I always had inflammed tonsils growing up. Has anyone been to the doctors?

Thank God I’m not the only one! I’ve been getting these since I was thirteen and I’m sixteen now. Today, I felt what I always called ‘stinky throat bombs’ and literally wanted to die since I was hanging out with my boyfriend. I was honest with him though and he told me he had the same problem, but not so often. So I decided to Google it and stumbled upon this very post. Honestly, I’m literally dying with everyone’s comments. I’m supposed to be studying and I’ll probably wake up my whole family at this rate. Thanks for the reliable info and for giving me a good laugh everyone!

By the way, sorry if my English isn’t good. It isn’t my native language.

Americans don’t speak English they speak American ! Different alphabet, different spelling rulkes, different pronunciation rules, and in many cases different words.(jail,gaol etc )
I do concede that some of the words are archaic English which means that they are obsolete in modern usage.

Omg every time I asked my mom about them she laughed at me and said I’m making a big fuss about it. I am happy that I’m not alone. I asked my doctor and he had no idea what I was talking about. It’s so disgusting and I hate them with a passion. I desperately want to dig them out and sometimes get sore throat as I mess around with my tensile. anyway good lock digging them out !!!!! and thx for the info

They first started for me when I was in college and took up smoking; I thought they would go away when I quit, but they didn’t. They’re absolutely disgusting. Fortunately I only get them every couple of weeks or so.

I was about 8 years old when these little b*****ds started popping up every so often. For some reason they disappeared for years, and only started again at around 16. I’m now 20 and they still pop up every now and again. Might get my hands on a syringe and do the salt water cleaning thing. Although, a little part of me wants tonsilitis so that I wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore. Nice to not be alone though.

Fun fact; Pirates didn’t wear eye-patches because they had missing eyes. They wore them so that when they went from sunshine above deck to darkness below deck, they could switch the patch over, and the eye that was then exposed would then have better night vision, and they wouldn’t have to pause to let their vision adjust.

I had those white smelly stuff from the time I was small now I am a woman.My mother took me to the doctor and he give me antibiotics and that cleared it up for a while.I really hate them and the very first time it came out and ya squeeze it and smell that scent alone is very deadly.Thank God for being alive after smelling those white stink bombs.

they are evil.. the only way to get rid of them is to gargle hydrogen peroxide mixed with water and it kills them.. when i eat sugars and sweets thats when they are bad.. i just do the gargle twice a day and i dont have a problem anymore.. its safe enough.. GPs recommend it.. its the only thing that kills the bacteria, as mouth wash is crap.. doesnt do anything..

My throat was hurting just are the right side along with my right ear.. so I looked in the mirror and saw the white… the tonsil part was really hard and it scared me so I looked it up and found this website.. I just pushed it all out and yes it is nasty there were 3 big ones and 2 small ones… I gagged and threw up… but my throat and ear instantly felt so much better when it was all out and over…

I have had these for months. my breath has been really bad. I had no idea what it was. thanks so much for the info. I had gone to the dentist thinking i had cavity but found none. went to see the doctor bout it but could not find the cause. I am so glad I am not alone. I can imagine what my husband has gone through with my bad breath. thanks again for the info.

wooowww, im so glad I found this. I have been getting them for awhile now, but had no idea what they were. I was soooo self conscious to even kiss my boyfriend. but ive learned how to pop them out when i feel one. its pretty simple. i open my mouth to make sure i can see them, if i can see them, i usually just take my two index fingers and gently squeeze the area they are in. and they pop right out.

Oh I’m so glad I’m not the only one!, I usually don’t comment on blogs but this topic is worth commenting to say thanks and for all the ec comments !,
I’m also terrified that someone gets to see me takingg them off, specially cuz’ dad says I’m loosingg some weight(I’m exercising) but I don’t want him tto see me with a toothbrush on my throat, it may look like I wanna throw up or I suffer from bulimia or something Lol!

I first experienced these a the age of 11, and they seemed to show up from time to time after that.
I always wondered what they were, as one time I squeezed one and it smelled so bad I exclaimed-son of a “f@#ck stick!”. The smell was so putrid that one would conclude that I had dined on an a$$ roast.
I always new that they were a normal occurrence, but just didn’t know the cause of their presence. But thanks to this blog, I do now. And knowing is is half the battle.

I never thought to look inside my mouth to see where these were coming from, and today I discovered a large one that was attributing to my ear ache. It all makes sense now. These death smell balls were causing my bad breath and ear aches!! I always thought the three were separate problems but now I can place all the blame on the stinky balls of death!!
After reading these comments, I strapped my camping headlamp and got to poking. It wasn’t long until I coughed up a few stink bombs and voila, my ear instantly feels better. Great to know the source and love reading all the hilarious comments. Beats doing calculus homework.

Yeah I’ve been getting these for years. Some months I don’t get any then out of the blue they’ll start popping out every second day. I hate them. They make me feel like I’m dirty. . And I had no idea they’re the cause of halitosis. Now I’m freakin out that I have terribly bad breath and the whole office talks about it ! The other day I was discussing some work stuff with a colleague and one must have dislodged and was sitting in my mouth. I ran off and spat in the bin, she was horrified and was like “WTF is wrong with you”. First world problems but still, that shit is RANK.

For anyone that suffers from these, go to a drug store and buy some Biotene. It’s a mouth wash that gets rid if them quickly, while improving your breathe. I use it every night just to prevent bad breathe and these “satan stones”. Good luck

Well…I’ve never tried to actually smell mine cuz my first thought when I pull little white balls out my throat is not to sniff it. And also how would I know what my a** hole smells like? My nose can’t reach it…unless if I were flexible as crap.

Just about the only time I ever get these is right about when I realize I’m getting sick with a bad cold/sore throat/flu kind of thing and then they continue off and on about a week after being sick! I never knew they had a name, thanks for the interesting article!

Ok i have had thse little nasty buggers since i was a little kid i would ask my parants about them they would look at me funny i always get these big ones stuck in the back of my throat and would start makeing a growling type noise like i was trying to get a lougie out my throut and get yelled at being told the noise aind proper and to go blow my nose thought about asking my doc but never had to hack one up when at the docs just glad its not some thing i realy need to b fearful off

omg i am a highschooler and some times i will be siting in class talking to someone and the chunks come up and i can taste it and it smells and i have to excuse my self and go spit it out then ask for a peice of gum so that my breath will stop smelling bad gross!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is literally the nastiest thing ever. I googled this to figure out what it was and I wish I didn’t. I can’t get them out because my gag reflex is too sensitive and the thought of these things just chillin in my throat is so vile that I’ve just been walking around gagging every 2 seconds. This is horrible.

I read the word methane so I decided to do an experiment. If you light them on fire they crackle and pop.
ps. don’t do it in your room with the windows shut if unless you want the stench of burning shit

I’m so glad I decided to google this. Just was woken up by coughing up the biggest on I’ve ever had. I noticed these things about 2006 and nobody knew what I was talking about I get them from time to time and you can always know when they there. Cause your breathe smells horrible like even after you brush your teeth. IF ANYBODY can help me with ways to get rid of them please let me know

Thank you all for your stomach turning story’s lOl, Maybe it is a tonsil stone, I also have a whitish thing on my left tonsil right now, an its annoying feels like a piece of popcorn kernel is stuck back their , I don’t want to poke it out thou because I’m a big ass baby an I don’t wanna do something that can damage my mouth, So now I sit an wait with this “circus folk shit” in my mouth until I sneeze I’m just waiting for it to get out, I use warm salt water almost everyday now an keep teeth brushed daily an It still wont go away, I’ve had it for about a week now….??? kinda freaked out about it. anyone have any other kind of remedies to help it out.

These comments are hilarious. I have gotten these since I was a kid. Only one friend of mine I knew got them also. We called them “Dog Balls” because of their scent being so akin to dog shit. So glad other people get them. My boyfriend thought I was an anomaly. I’m sure digging “dog balls” out of your throat is wicked attractive anyways. Ha!

The first time I’ve ever experienced one of these was in highschool. A friend and I were sitting in my room and I coughed one up into my hand. We were both grossed out and I immediately threw it into my older brother’s room. I’m in my thirties and that friend and I still laugh about it. I’ve forwarded this article to her and we are both having a good laugh.

That you and your friend still laugh over something from back in the day cracks me up. Fave comment so far.
I’m 33 and still laugh really hard about the shit I did to my baby brother when I was a kid. Fun times.

I am happy..I thought my brain was over growing and is coming out via mouth.. Thought was a tumor and was sad, I didn’t want to get it checked up and confirm a tumor.. Just thought to give it a search in Google, when it came out just now and alaas..this site came to my joy!!!

OMG I was wondering what that horrible smell was in the back of my throat! I looked back there and noticed a white chunk on the side of my right throat. So I decided to take a q tip and poke at it and it came out. Along with a bunch of other little white pieces. They smelled like butt so I decided to look it up and here I am!

I have had these since a kid. Back then they were small and I would spit them out. One day in college it felt like there was something in my throat and I couldn’t get it out. I finally took a look and noticed something white. I pulled it out and it was HUGE! Ever since then i have been forming ones not that big, but rather large. I just stick my finger in and push them out. I wish there was a way to stop these or shrink them without mutilation.

This cure worked for me and was suggested by a doctor who recommended *against* removing tonsils:
*
Gargle with warm salt water morning and night for 2 weeks.
*
That’s it. Nothing magical. I didn’t believe him, but it costs nothing. Sure enough, after pushing out the biggest suckers with a Q-tip, I did it for a little over a week, the folds in my tonsils shrunk, and these nasty bastards have almost never shown up again. I’d had these all my life and am finally free. Stick with the program for 2 weeks. It will work.
*
Add’l note: to maintain this, be sure to brush your tongue and gargle with regular, clean water at the very end.

The earliest memory I have getting these was in high school , and I remember asking my doctor about it. His response still makes me shake my head today. He said “just try not eating bread?” Okay?.. No thanks?
In any case, I still get them often. I am soo self concious about having bad breath! I have even visited an ear nose throat doc. His only recommendation was to remove tonsils.
Okay?.. No Thanks Again?
I find more support and informtion by reading comments from others who actually deal with these things. So felt the need to share?
My goal was to find the right tool to get these nasty fowl things out of my throat!
What I use is a tool for pimples! Double yuk I know! But I do not use it for pimples, I use it only for my throat and clean it after each use with rubbing alcohol or peroxide. The tool is called a Black head/ White’ head Extractor. It has two ends. Oneend is flat. But I only use the other end which is a round loop slighty curved. After I remove the tonsil thing I clean the tool and gargle with diluted peroxide!
Its annoying to have to deal with this. But the alternative is worse. My friend just had his tonsils out. He was in pain for two weeks after.

This is one of my first experiences with one of these. I can’t get them out thanks to my good old friend the gag reflex. They are pretty much behind the tonsil but I can see them. Any suggestions of how to avoid the gag reflex?

Use all finger but your thumb on your left hand. Take the tips of them an push into your palm. Almost squeeze really tight while creating pressure on your palm. The “Pain” (not really) distracts your brain and then you can lose your gag reflex temporarily! Hope this helps.

I finally found an easier way to get rid of the stones than having to push them out with a Q-tip. Search Amazon.com for the “Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser”. It is $45, but it is worth it and gets rid of the stones easily. It also works great as a floss alternative. Basically this thing shoots a targeted stream of water out the tip at varying pressure. At the highest setting it can be extremely powerful so I recommend setting it at 2 or 3 at the highest for the delicate tonsil. Just fill up the reservoir with warm water (add a little crest pro-health 50+ for even better results). Then look in the mirror and squirt the little suckers out. You will be amazed at how easily they come out into the sink and it is so much more gentle on the tonsil and for those that have a bad gag reflex. Hope this helps.

Well it all depends on how big your bladder is and how long a lifetime is !!
But I think I manage about a pint a day approx. so 1 x 365 x (your age minus 18)/8
For me that is 2053 gallons – Can you tell my age from that ?

Thank you, I went to any ears, nose and troat Doctor and asked him what they were a couple months ago and he said it was food.
I have had them since I was a Child. This makes me feel much better. I had asked by family and no one else had them.

Ugh! Something I didn’t know about and many people have. Only when I have a real bad sore throat do I see whitish areas on the tonsils. Otherwise I don’t see these things. Cough them up? I have lost my appetite for good. I have been blessed. Thank you GOD.

PLEASE, do NOT use a Waterpik or any similar oral cleansing device on your tonsils!!
The high pressure water could do damage to the soft tissue causing severe injuries to the tonsils.
I wish the author would do a better job researching before posting bad advice.
It is however, good to spread information about this condition. However disgusting it may seem we are can all be affected by similar afflictions!

i spat one for the 1st time when i was 10 yrs old…funny back then i thought they were mushroom bits from my meal….need to admit the smell is kinda addictive.i don’t want to say i like it but i don’t want to say i don’t like it either….when i bring it close to my nose,smell makes me hold near my nose for a rather long time…

My son started getting tonsil stones about a year ago at the age 17. They made his breath stink and every morning he had to dislodge these things from his throat. I took him to a ETN specialist who recommended a tonsillectomy. Son was in pain for weeks afterwards but he is 100% healed now and free of tonsil stones. He does not regret he surgery.

Wow! Tort I was d only one to get these! Lol! Ive been getin them for years and nevr thought to go to the doctor. I use to try n poke dem out a toothpick!! Crazy! But they use to irritate me so much I had to get them out. I stopped getting them for a while but recently started to get them again. Now im sitting here suffering frm tonsillitis. Doc prescribed me with antibiotics n today there are like millions of dese little things. Im itching to get them out wiv my toothpick (but it sometimes hurts) but I dnt wanna irritate my already very sore toncils! Im glad its nothing serious but its not very pleasant. Nasty smelling too ewww but luckily dont have bad breath!

Have had them for a while I was youn when I first got them started to get them often when I smoked marijuana the. I stopped smoking for about 12years then now have started again cause of my cronic asma cause smoking makes my lung function more now I’m getting them again now more often do you think it’s from smoking marijuana anyone exsperiance this or just I?

@Tennille: “cause of my cronic asma cause smoking makings my lun function more…” Have you talked to a doctor about that? While elements of the Marijuana may help with your breathing, smoking anything is not good for the lungs.

I had this problem all through my late teens until I was about 25. I’d brush my teeth at least 5 or 6 times a day. I thought I was going crazy. My mouth alway felt like I needed to brush my teeth, even after I had just brushed my teeth! But I never saw anything, It was always just a bad taste. Finally a white chunck came up one nite and I thought ‘What the hell?”…But I’d Never heard Anything about a problem like this, so I didn’t look into it . But it was always on my mind after the 5th time I’d brush my teeth in a day! About a year later I got a white chunck out into the palm of my hand. I wrapped it up in some paper and went to the Dr’s. I was freaking out. The Doc was very Ho-hum, no big deal…this stuff gets caught in your tonsils etc. Well, I’d been scraping the enamel of my teeth, brushing a zillion times a day for the previous 5 or 6 years, maybe longer…I was about 25yrs old at this time…Well, right then I lied to him and said I got sore throuts all the time. I wanted those tonsils GONE. The following week, I had my tonsils out and it was like Nite and Day! Immediatly! I wish I’d known about this problem and that it wasn’t just my imagination. I would’ve had my tonsils yanked Years earlier!

i have just recently started to get these. My bf would tell me about my bad breath and i’d just go brush my teeth, but then I noticed what seemed like a head of something white form on my throat. I was so scared because I am a smoker and I thought it was a sure sign of cancer. Then I tried to feel it and when I rubbed my nail against it it popped out and smelled awful!!! Since about a week ago when it happened I have now had many and I think its the smoking that’s doing it. But I would love to know a suggestion on how to slow them down or make them stop besides getting my tonsils removed!

You guys aren’t going to like my response but I think this happens when you are eating foods that are building up in your system and not getting flushed out. I had recently decreased my sugar intake and while I’m gluten and dairy intolerant a week after eating some dairy products, I’ve noticed these in my throat and hadn’t seen them for years. I notice its happened after eating dairy and/or decreased immune system. They seem to go hand in hand for me.some people call this an overgrowth of candida or “yeast.” A few friends of mine who have halitosis eat dairy but are prob lactose intolerant too. If you want to figure it out, keep a food diary and see if cutting out certain foods helps. I recommend dairy first. Good luck!

And by the way, most doctors won’t talk about diet they’ll just try to remove what’s perceived as the problem. Oh, it’s growing on your tonsils? Lets remove them instead of figuring out what’s causing it.

I am 49, I never had them until last month. I kept feeling like something was in my throat, and all I would do was try to clear my throat. I didn’t have bad breath though. Anyway I noticed I all of a sudden have a lot of sneezing, runny nose, type symtoms. I sneezed so hard it came flying out. I was amazed at the most foul smelling thing ever. Yet curious. A few minutes later as I was clearing my throat, little pieces started coming out. Now, A month later the same thing the sneezing, ect. Feeling of something stuck in my throat. I started trying to cough it up, all of a sudden I saw something on the bathroom floor the size of a marble. I thought it was a big piece of lint, I picked it up and again it was one of those NASTY stones. I felt better. But now today I feel that something stuck again, not as bad, but annoying. going to get the mirrior and a flashlight, to see if there are more. I hope this is allergy related and not a new thing to stay.

Due to my experiencing copious throat infections, my parents had my tonsils removed when I was nearly 5 years old. As this article notes, I’ve never or virtually ever endured the awful scourge of tonsil stones. I am forever grateful for the attention and wonderful care my parents bestowed upon me.

For real ive been killing myself laughing here at these comments. . But this is serious.. my boyfriend thought id farted in bed. He said it was rotten. And that was me with my back to him haha. .. be picking em bad boys out now that I know you all do. Soooooo funny.

I have been getting these since having Mono when I was 10, b/c the Mono caused inflammation of my tonsils, causing them to enlarge. For some reason it’s only my right tonosil… that has remained enlarged with about 3 different “pits” that these gross things form in. They’re usually off-whitish/grayish but when I’ve been sick with like a sinus infection, they are sometimes greenish! I always thought it was just me and the other couple of people I knew that said they got them. God… I have been embarrassed for years and asked my doctor, who said that it was normal, what they are. And he said the same thing this article said. I routinely check my tonsil to see if there’s anything there… even though if there is I can usuallly feel it rubbing on the back of my tongue. I get a Q-tip and just pop them out. A couple of the pits are tight so when I press on the side of it the stuff “bursts” out, a little like a zit… lol. I sometimes have messed with it so much it bleeds.

I want to look at them under a microscope! It’s so weird how some people have them and some dont. Mine come and go over the years. I wonder if it does have to do with vitamins/supplements as I’ve been on extra lately because I’m pregnant and here these little white things are back. I also told my doctor a few years ago and she said it was just food stuck in my throat. I never believed it.

Omg you guys I finally know what this ugly horrible stinky things are I was so scared I just got one today & I scratched it of & it left a big hole inside of my mouth this whole week I’ve been feeling like I was going to have an ear infection :'( thank God I finally know what this is

Oh holy crap… you people are funny! I think it is amazing to read your comments. I “lol’ed” at work…

I also thought they were some sort of nuts stuck in the throat.

I have never had bad breath from it, luckily.

I think the person who mentioned something about vitimins might be on to something. It seems to happen more if I use something high in vitimins… EX. I had an Emergen-C this morning, and then this happened out of the blue. It doesn’t happen very often… unless I’m on vitimins or something, it seems!

Jeez this crappy smelling substance keeps on coming back and when I get rid of them its just so painstaking to scrape them off. I think 4 weeks on the process… Men the smell was terrible but you get used to them… But its so embrassing and kissing my bf is way too not to go..

Now I am just pissed off to the MAX. I have had this issue all my LIFE! I am 39 yrs old just now learning of this. OMG I AM PISSED off at my mother!! Bad breath for 39yrs THANKS MOM!! When I was a young child a doctor suggested that she have my oral balls FROM HELL removed. Guess what I will be setting up an appointment for…. I don’t give a flying $%!* what good they do for me. All the ear infections, strep, just sickly for all these years over my tonsils. TIME TO GO U LITTLE FUCKERS!!!!

I have been coughing up these things forever the gag me for like a good half hr before I finally cough them up and they smell horrible! And then when I bring bring them up to people o just get a weird look but now I know they are normal. I used to get strep throat I don’t anymore though so I thought they were gone. Its been bothering me for about 2 days now.

I totally thought I was the only one getting these & finally asked the doctor about them. My doctor said they were mainly caused by dehydration! Surprised the article doesn’t mention this. When I started drinking a lot more water every day they completely quit & my breath is way better! I haven’t had them for years! Water people! WATER!

Omg these comments are HILARIOUS! I had really bad tonsillitis when I was about 12 had to miss my school
Christmas party! & since that my tonsils have always been BIG with crypts! I’ve had tonsillitis so I thought after this about twice! Im now 21, But now I’m thinking was it tonsillitis my tonsils were inflamed with the stones but I didn’t get sick & it was nothing like when I was 12, For about 5 months on & off I’ve been getting tonsils stones is what I called them & mild bad breath I went to 2 different docs & a nurse, the nurse was right she said it was the mucus/debris & bacteria build up she recommended a non alcohol mouthwash with chlorhexidine which is an antiseptic ( Corsdoyl) I used it religiously untill the bottle finished about 3 weeks & it went but now it’s back now that I feel a little run down with a cold and I’m going to try the salt water but if that doesn’t work I’m getting them removed! It sounds like most of you have it really bad, but mine isn’t that bad but I’m not living with this I brush my teeth twice & floss I have good oral health I’m not suffering with this , especially if it can get worse like how some of you are saying they just come out, I’d rather save the embarrassment , I don’t want to live in fear, & I apologise if I’m making it sound like its the end if the world but it is for me, if I don’t like something I fix it! I suggest use should too

oh my pooer son..he has had this for a few years…he’s only 10…His breath smells like a rotting fish tank!.. Went to docs with a sample and all he said was it was nothing..now we know it is something, but nothing to worry about…I will try to stress on him the importance of water even more now and see how that goes…surely there must be more that can be done apart from removing his tonsils?

lol, i used to think (since I was really little, I’m 34 now) that these nasty crap nuggets were from food that didn’t quite make it all the way through the intestines to be evacuated (if u know what i mean)..but somehow they were some extra before-crap crap that had to be evacuated another way. It was always gross when i used to see these little crap things..i haven’t seen them for some time now, but they show up from time to time, so now, thanks to sites like this, I will be more alert and knowledgeable about the crap nuggets. Thanks all for the funny funny comments. This made my day at work..I spent my whole lunch hour reading and laughing at this stuff…

I too have had these since a teenager–always thought I was nuts. Over the last 3-4 years I got so sick of them, so I let some dry and when dried up they look like dried mucous.
I am able to cough them up but my husband and daughter are sick of hearing me “hack”
When I take allergy medicine they don’t seem be a problem.
I get sick frequently (bronchitis, pneumonia, colds, etc) and wonder if these nasty things are contributing to it?? Anyone else tend to get sick frequently?

a Dr. told my mom I had enlarged adenoids as a child–wonder if getting rid of them and tonsils would improve my health??

Hello im 23 years old just started getting this shiet some months ago. I really hate them. I just want to remove them to fried them (cook) and eat those suckers. At first I thought it was oatmeal eaten from the day before.

well it’s good to know what these dreadful things are…it’s been almost 6 months since i last had them. This week my throat has been so sore despite drinking lots of water…it’s annoying. I can never tell if it’s those white gross things or just my allergies acting up.

I have always felt so ashamed of these since it is really quite disgusting and anytime I tell anyone of my problem they all say the same thing “EW gross” and It sucks because I really can’t help it! i have been coughing these things up since I was a kid my dad used to pick them out for me when I was young since he suffers from them too, and being queezy I could never do it myself. Now they just come up at random times and I feel it while I’m laying in bed and I always have to get up and run to cough it up (just happened to me) it’s really gross and I’m ALWAYS so conscious of my breathe because my mouth always tastes bad. it really sucks for all of us suffering from these pain in the asses!

My son and I alway get these things. He’s 5 yrs old and it’s hard for me to take them out. I only get them when I smoke. And my son gets them when he drinks milk. If he doesn’t drink a lot of milk he won’t get them. If I don’t smoke (working on quitting) I won’t get them. You have to find out what it is that your eating drinking smoking or doing that causes the stinkers to come.

Haha my brother and I call these things “puffys” . I’ve been getting them for years and I have gag-reflex problems where I gag with everything even if I cough wrong, so coughing these things up is such a hassle for me . Sometimes they get stuck too , it’s like a workout for me ! I honestly hate them and I can’t stick anything down my throat to get them out either , I just wish they would go away on their own and never come back!

OMG I’m sooooo glad that I finally found out what these nasty blasting things are!! they would randomly come up & my mom would say “eww that’s disgusting” & I had no idea there were other people suffering along with me!! thank god I found this article!

Guys im pretty sure its milk. . After coming in here n reading I thought maybe milk. Ive an intolerance to milk.. and so eliminate it from my diet but take in tea… and so stopped the tea altogether. No more balls.. then after few weeks tried a cuppa again just to see… and sure as hell they came back!!!!! Defo milk guys.

OMG i thought i was going out of my mind, forever brushing and eating mints or gums. thank god its not that serious and how exactly do you use a cotton swap to take ‘em out ……………at least without choking yourself to death

OMG!! I’ve had these for years and have worried its throat cancer!! First time I found one I was working out and I caughed really hard and passed gas at the same time. I thought I tasted the gas in my mouth and then I felt the pea sized particle in my mouth. I almost Puked instantly and spit It into my hand. I inspected it and showed my buddy and he almost puked too! I had to leave my workout and really did think something was horribly wrong! So glad I finally found out after years!!

The way to tell one is there is when you feel like you have a corn kernel stuck in your throat when moving your tongue in the in/out motion. I’d run to a mirror and immediately dig it out. Haven’t had any in about a year. Dr’s need to talk about this more. The smell is horrendous and that’s putting it mildly…yuck!

I am so glad I stayed up to read all of these responses……I can so relate to all of this….I had them for years, and dealt with the unbelievable stench that these things would emit….well, after years of chronic tonsillitis, I finally bit the bullit and had my tonsils out…..that was over 10 years ago, and I can sincerely say I no longer have to live with “those little white things” as I used to call them!

I’ve had this since i was a little kid i was so scared cause the first time it happened to me which i will never forget i was walking and lost breath and shot out like 7 – 10 when blowing out hard and been getting them ever sines but slowed down to like 2 – 3 at a time and thankfully doesn’t happen often anymore. after all these years thinking i had some sort of problem i now can put it to rest. Oh yeah and attempting to chew it to figure out what food it was was the worst idea ever!

I just finished reading all the comments and literally have tears streaming down my face… So funny! I started getting them in college after getting mono. My bf noticed he had then and then soon after, i coughed one up. I thought I caught the “chunks” from him or from mono! Now 15 years later I still get them. I can’t really see my tonsils so I’m not quite sure how to push them out… I always gag or squeeze them out. They are quite large every time like a marble. They smell horrific! I also have bad breath and blame these chunks. And those claiming not to have bad breath with this problem, I’m guessing you do!

I’ve had these since I was about 6 and I’m fifteen now it’s gotten to the point I have to get my tonsils takin out bc the hole is so large and bothers me really bad. The small ones are about the size of a pencil eraser and are very hard to get out. The hole is so large I can literally stick my middle finger in it.

I read through some of this comments and I was seriously cracking up, at work. Like many I am glad I am not the only one. Those little things stink like poop mixed with more poop…I will try some of the suggestions here.
Pheeeew I am not the only one…hahaha thank you all for the input.
I thought it was food that didn’t make it out the other way…hahahaha sorry…

Ha! I use to get these when i was little around 6 or 7, and i called them “vomit balls”. After many bouts with ear and throat infections, i had my tonsils removed at 17 yrs old, and have never had another one since. Im 40 now.

i saw them in my throat when i was a teenager and had a sore throat but didn’t know they could come out… thought they came and went with sore throats. until one day in my late 20’s? i was gargling with salt water and i felt one in my mouth as i was spitting out the water. i picked it up and moushed the hard white/yellowish kernel with my fingertips… it smelled geeeeross without even putting it to my nose… and when i did to verify the stench… whoa ~ i was mortified that i had had these in my throat and never realized their smell ~ but was so relieved that they could me made to come out! i looked in the mirror and saw one on the other side and made it my mission to get it out too. after trying several things like a qtip that snapped under the pressure to no avail… and everything else made me gag… i hunted for a particular slim, long appliance i could use (like the flat handled screwdriver suggestion). i looked in our silverware drawer and found a long handled silver baby spoon, and adopted it at my personal hygiene tool. i hold on to the curved spoon and put it my mouth along the inside of my cheek and when i get to the rim of my skin where the nasty curd is nestled all cozy like, i gently press the skin toward my throat and out pops the kernel! not wanting to swallow it, i quickly spit it out while i rinse the spoon. then use the curved end to go over the vacant hole to make sure i got it all and gently scrape it flat so it won’t gather more food or milk or whatever so fast! then i rinse with warm salt water to cleanse and seal the hole. i don’t get them very often anymore… but i eat better, less sugar, milk, don’t smoke, growing up… older…

since no one ever talked about this, i thought i was the only one plagued with this nuisance. thanks everyone for their suggestions and making me laugh and feel like a normal person! course now i don’t want to kiss anyone cause i don’t know if THEY have ‘em and don’t pluck ‘em out!!! ewwww, super yuck!

thanks TIFO! i was reading The Woman Who Survived All 3 ship disasters and stumbled on to this article!

I use to get these got my tonsils removed, and poof never had them again!!! I was 26 when I had my tonsils removed it was very painful but it was worth it now because no more sore throat or tonsilitis!!!

Ohh!! i am glad at last there are people a lot like me :P. i have this since a long time. When i feel my breath stinks i press my tonsils and let that thing out , and i feel my breath doesn’t smell nasty. Try this

I AM IN TEARS!!!!! It literally took me 2 days to finish reading all these comments haha. I’ve had these off and on for about 6 months now and I too thought I was dying of some sort of disease. I always thought it was some leftover food but 2 nights ago I was laying in bed and felt the same discomfort in the back of my throat. I starter hacking away and this huge chunck came out flying. Since this was my first big one, I thought for sure I was getting closer to death so I did what any normal person would do in my situation to self diagnose and Googled it. I think people are on to something when they say that milk and sugar makes it worse. I’ve also been drinking way more water to see if it helps! Good luck to everyone on their quest to rid themselves of these balls from hell!

I’ve also experienced these extremely ratchet smelling “ALIEN” balls from hell, lol. I recall my first one coming up during class when I was in elementary. It was about as big as pinky nail. I was freaked but to embarrassed to tell my teacher. So I wrapped it in some Kleenex but when I got home it was brownish n dried out. On many occasions growing up I would try to preserve one long enough for a doctor to examine it, but no luck. Im 39 now n eat things that i didnt for over 30 years, vegetables in particular.Nowaday’s I very rarely get them. I wonder if wat we eat plays any role in their forming. Oan im sooooo excited to know that I now have fellow “ALIEN” ballers! Lol

Those little bad boys smell worse than a hobo’s scrotum. I imagine. Just wanted to chime in here… Seems like significantly reducing dairy also minimized these tonsil stones for me. Looks like dairy is to blame for a heck of a lot of weird health maladies. Reduce your dairy intake for a period and see if that helps you. Good luck!

I first noticed one of those when I was about 8 years old. I suddenly found that I had to swallow something right at the back of my throut, yet I had not eaten anything. So I thought no, I want to know what this thing is. With a herculean effort I managed not to swallow it and spit it out instead. It was a cream colour on the outside and darker towards the inside. Words fail me for the stink that came off that tiny thing. The worst bit about it is that I was convinced there was more because you could see where it had cracked off from another piece. I have too much gag reflex to ever to much about it, but a sure fire way to get them out is to take a really fast hike up a really high mountain with a heavy back pack. Just about when you think you are about to die and you are breathing so heavy that your throat sticks to itseft in pain from all the wheezing, they pop out.

I know how you can get rid of them!!!! I had those too for several years and I was convinced that something in my diet had something to to with those white chunks, because at some point I had more than other times. The inconsistency in my diet matched the random burst of that crap. I started to experiment with different things and sure enough when I went of caffeine(coffee, tea and energy drinks) for 2 months and they went away. I cheated a few time with coffee and they came back of course I quit coffee for good. So I would encourage you either try quitting the caffeine for a while and see where that takes you or experiment with your diet. Also try to spread the word because I know its a HUGE inconvenience, and its easy and chip to get rid of it.

I thought it was rice. I started diggin’ them out with q-tips and saving them in alcohol. It was my intention to take them to a doctor to show, because I was disturbed by it. The smell is unbelievable, and really wretched like something had curled up in my throat and died. I aint lyin’! I regularly check my tonsils with a flashlight to make sure there aren’t any lingering back there. So glad I’m not the only one.

lolzzzzzzzz cant stop laughing, i noticed this nasty chunk when i was about 8 year old, i had an irritation on my throat and that get cleared off when this nasty thing came out , i went to my aunt and asked her about it, she get pissed of and scold me to throw it away, then on wards i will be getting it once in a month or sometimes once in 3 months , today morning i smelled it and it was like hell , i felt like vomiting and came to know its because of this i have very bad smell in my mouth and my mother used to tell me often that i have bad smell in my mouth, thank god after reading all of ur comments i am glad to know that i dont have any symptoms of throat cancer and how i can get rid of that nasty mass of bomb

My son came out after school today rolling one of these stink balls in his fingers after coughing it up asking me to take it and check out how it feels and how bad it smelt..eww I told him that I thought it was a vomit ball and to throw it away, (I didn’t touch it) I’m so glad I looked this up now so I can properly inform him about what it is

I’m 67 and had these little buggers since I was a teenager. I find they are worse when I eat dairy products. I press the side of my neck just below my ear and they pop out. Yuk. They do give me a terrible soar throat.

Glad to know. I’ve only seen it a couple times though. Tiny little pebble like substance. Seems hard but breaks up easily enough under a thumbnail. When I first encountered this, it seemed as likely to be a chunk of a lung tumor I coughed up.

Ive had these things on and off for several years now and they are very annoying, speaking of which I have one right now that’s at the back of my throat behind my tongue and I can just feel it there, I’ve tried everything to get it out such an annoying feeling, I gurgled 2 cups of salt water and it still in there and my gag reflex is sensitive so I almost keep making myself sick, I’m not winning the battle right now

I have these& I am glad to have found this site. I see I’m not alone. Well, I have been constantly brushing, flossing& drinking water. It is AWFUL, It makes me gag& stay awake sometimes at night. I need to get my tonsil removed bad. I am at work& I googled this. Thankful for the site.#TeamTonsilStones

Just removed large mutant curd from my tonsil pocket….smells like “Iny” belly button jam…pretty foul.
glad to find this site. Helped calm me down, from thinking was something worse…1st time this ever happened to me. I thought I was turning like my friend we call “diesel breath”…hmm he probably has it too

I always called them throat chunks. Ever since i had mono when i was in high school, it left deep pockets in my tonsils and fill with the chunks periodically. I find its usually the worst right around the time when I’m about to get sick (usually bronchitis) and once i remove the chunks i usually feel much better or if it’s removed too late then i get majorly sick. Or else I get the small chunks about once a month for no reason. I remove by opening my mouth wide, pushing my tonsils as forward as i can, then use my index finger to push them out. I never smelled them up close till i read these comments. .. Omg it’s like a dumpster! So gross! I wish there was a product to reduce these from building up! So annoying!

I freaked out tonight after checking my sore throat with a flashlight and found a white chunk the size of my fingernail, my mom even told me last night that my breath smelled like death, so embarrassing. it’s nice to know that I’m not alone in this admittedly stinky and gross situation. Some of these comments have actually helped me to better address dealing with death breath. Thanks guys!

I am 73 and have got them since childhood. Both parents also had them. The doctor I consulted also had them!! He thought it was a fungus, and a throat specialist said it was food which attracted the same bacteria as tooth decay. The solution is a tonsillectomy or deal with the problem for a lifetime. I always “treat”the problem weekly by pressing the tonsil with the end of a smooth toothbrush while pressing outside the throat. Gargle with something after. They seem to go away after a course of antibiotics or Transfer Factor Plus.

I notice them this yeas as i though its particles of food stuck on my throat but im wondering what this are as its smell awful! So i do search and found this article. Thanks to this i have an info now.

The comment section is “heelarious”!!! I’ve had these disgusting “do-do balls”(name respectfully assigned) since I was a child. I only get them when I’m catching a cold. They are the foulest things I’ve ever smelled in my life. The different names they are given is pure comedy. Asshole balls, is the BEST!!

Omg! I thought I was the only one who had these?! I have always kept Respiratory infections like Strep Throat, upper respiratory and tonsillitis. That may be a reason! And yes! They smell HORRIBLE! JUST LIKE $h!+ haha!! However, my breath does not smell like them! Thank God! Thanks for all the information and all the laughs!

Another glad to know faceless man that has always had them but ashamed and disgusted to talk about them. Know only to myself as “rice crispy treats”. Brought together and freed by the all powerful internet & Google via our smart phones.

So glad I found this website! I’m 23 and I’ve had these a few times throughout the years, maybe once a year? I always thought they looked like white tic-tacs stuck in the back of my throat. It happened again this week and my whole left side of my throat got really sore and my ear hurt. I was able to get it out with my finger, but they are puke-atrocious. PUKE-ATROCIOUS. Laughed my butt off at all the names people had for these barf-bits.

Surprised people are still commenting on this thread. Well I went to the doctors today but to be honest they’re not interested. Didn’t even give me anything like mouthwash or that so I went and bought CB12 which was £13 but it doesn’t seem to work. Doc has referred me to a throat doctor at the hospital. Hope that helps to improve. I think there’s one of these demon balls stuck somewhere in my mouth to the point that I’m grogging all the time to get it out but it’s probably not even there and I’ve damaged something.

I have suffered these awful things for a long time and thought they were trapped peanut peices from peanut butter. But aswell as this I also suffered a strange sound/sensation of water going down the back of my neck !! I have spoken to the doctors who’s university degree could only come up with ( it must be in your mind !) HOWEVER when I remove these “godforsaken ” stink from hell lumps the watery trinkly sound at the back of my neck goes away . A definite link !!

I have had these for years, i find gargling lessens them, i had like a sore throat, so with the back of a toothbrush, i started kinda low where it was sore and pushed with an upward stroke and wow 2 about the size of Corn Kernels popped out! i do this once a week (though most are small) I call them Shit balls!

I have had these since I can remember. Always called them “White Things”
You feel a chunk in your throat, you try to swallow but it climbs further towards your teeth, I think its because your body knows it has to go, so you hack a bit to get it out and it gets stuck on back of tongue, now your gagging and you manage to hack it up and spit it out. So now you see the White Thing and wonder what the hell it is. So you pick it up and notice right away its like a piece of cottage cheese, and then you smash it in your fingers and naturally as a human being, you then sniff the White Thing. That was the wrong thing to do since you now know its the worst smelling piece of garbage you ever smelled before. So you throw it away. Now your thinking about it constantly trying to figure out what the hell it is, maybe a little afraid too. You ask your friends about their experiences with White Things and they look at you like your crazy. Now you either move on or go to a Doctor depending who you are. WHITE THINGS! I’ve woken up with a mouth full before and it was quite disgusting, thankfully I was alone for that. I think its more common in smokers and that’s why not many people know about them. But anyways thanks for reading, I hope I’ve made you laugh and understand that White Things affect everyone. Not just Black people. LMAO sorry.

Thanks for the great info. I’ve had this for years. They were small and tiny and I would sneeze or cough and they would come out. I touched it for the first time it came put. The smell on my fingers oh boy. I would never do that again. I appreciate the info. Dont know if I want to get my tonsils removed but. Wow. Really thanks. I called them stink bombs lol.♡T

I’ve been getting these damn things my entire life – 50 years. And what a joy. A friend of mine is an ENT surgeon and he says they call them “Tonsil Curds” in his world and the only way u can rid yourself of them is a tonsillectomy. Considering they look like pieces of cottage cheese (eew) that seems to make sense. I always like to say, “Hey! Smell this!” when I can cough one up. Maybe that’s why I have no friends.

I dont know why,but i thought i was coughing up pieces of my brain and by the time i hit 50 id b done with. So happy i know what it is now and let me say”boi those things makes me want to drink bottles of mouthwash” the way they smell

I caught one up just now brushing my teeth and thought why not google it as i was always wondering my whole life whats that stinky little things are.. surprise, i came to the right site. Very informative article! “smell like they could wake up your dead grandma”, i rofled so hard! Thanks, now i know

I suffer from these aswell. I have had strep every year since I was a kid. I’m now 26 and just startinggetting these a few months ago. Although mine are super small and not that hard… Seems like when I use my stonepicker aka hooked dentist tool I have a hard time trying to get them out because my tonsils are kinda far back and always seem slightly swollen. I wish I could just cough them up, but it seems mine are softer I guess. Any ideas for me? And is it too late to get my tonsils out – I don’t wanna live my whole life with these…I showed my doc she said to rinse my mouth often. But I already do. Wish there was an easier way. I hate when I feel it… It’s so uncomfortable

First noticed I had this about a month ago. Felt like something was caught in my throat and when I inspected there was a big white chunk sticking out of my tonsil. Worked it out with my pinky and to my surprise another one just as big came out behind it. Really freaked me out but I just figured it was something random. I kept checking periodically after that and sure enough more popped up but most were smaller than the first time. Doesn’t really seem bothersome enough to get my tonsils removed and hopefully it stays that way.

Omg! I have always thought I was the only one with these things. When I was younger I believed it was rice that I hadn’t swallowed correctly but then started thinking this was a symptom of some disease.
Glad to know it’s not a terrible disease and that I am not the only one with this rather disgusting things.

A good way to remove them is using a forceful stream of water. For example: a large syringe with a thin tube on the end. There are also products available, like the WaterPik. For preventing them, it is important to do nasal irrigation often, which is basically a stream of warm saline water that flows into the nostrils and runs run the back of the throat into the mouth. Dissolve some oxygenating pills in the saline water to combat the bacteria that produce the stones. Gargling with the oxygenated saline water will help too, as well as doing the basics like brushing, flossing and tongue scraping.

I’m dying reading all these comments! But seriously, I’ve coughed these things up before and today was the first day I thought to google it!! My throat is hurting and the right side is swollen. I looked and saw a white spot and thought it was a puss pocket . Nope so much worse, I dug out like 6 little chunks. But hopefully that’s the only reason my throat and ear hurts.

Thought I was the only one in the world with this problem. To say it is embarrassing is an understatement. Now I know it is a real condition, I could try to manage it more proactively. I must have used drums of mouthwash trying to manage this problem and admittedly, it has improved but I hate having to deal with it.

I’m 39 and been getting them since I can remember , didn’t know what they were up till a year ago , my mum and my 12 year old also get them we call them gobblers and yes they do stink and yes they do cause pain sometimes I got one last week and I’m so sick of my throat hurting .

I am 27. I’ve had these a few times throughout the year and learned how to get it out by using a smooth ended chopsticks successfully. I was once very struggled on how to get them out because it was like a war with the tongue blocking your way. But you will learn that the poke is not painful and will not hurt your tonsil after several attempts. I can guarrantee you will get tonsilloliths after you ate KitKat. And to prevent, I will suggest to drink lots of water daily and eat fruits like watermelon.

Back in the late 90’s before the Internet I suffered privately and shamefully with this problem. I told nobody and I’m a healthy good looking motherfucker dating tons of hot women! I could feel these things in my throat and would use a purchased Chinese chopstick that had a smooth black finish and needle like tipped at the edge that u pic food with. I have a very sensitive gag reflex so this chopstick was thin enough and long enough to stick back there surgically and I would use the bathroom or handheld mirror and plenty of white “daylight bulbs” and pic these things out or loose. They smelled horrid and I too would sneeze or cough these out unexpectedly. I’m mid 40’s now and realize over time they magically never came back and forgot about them. In Dec 2014 I had a friend asked me if I ever had this problem and now I Google it and find the whole country has been privately embarrassingly shamefully disgusted by the same problem behind closed doors, and it’s a relief! haha good luck hope a Chinese chopstick helps someone with Guage reflex problem. I still have my tonsils but mysteriously void of this problem that plagued me daily. Yeah my spelling sucks but I’m still a good looking motherfucker and your the one with the shit breath problem and removal probelm so just use my help if it helps.. Dallas Texas

LOLOL!! These things are so disgusting and I am waaaaaay to much of a good looking bish to have stank breath! I’ve suffered from this problem damn near my whole life, and I’ve always wondered what they are and what the hell my mother was doing in the mirror, with a pen, picking out white stuff from her throat *thats what she said*! I had some come up today

This makes me feel so much better. I was a zillion percent certain that I had cancer or something. I never had the bad breath problem but I just take my index finger and jiggle those little gross things outta there. I do know that mine are allergy related, specifically dairy related. You ain’t never gonna keep me away from pizza or lasagna though. Heck to the no. Anyway. We shall suffer in silence no more!! Thanks for the laughs btw, this is almost as good as poop stories.

So I had a cold the last couple days and kept feeling the rough hard white bump and finally got sick of it. I got a qtip and scraped it out but I noticed there was a hole behind this spot. Therefore, I pushed on the tonsil and more stuff kept oozing out. Idk why or what it could be anyone know? Or is it this “tonsil stone”?

Thank you! These stinky little “corn nuggets” have been popping up for the past few years now/ I’m in my late 30s, and often have blocked sinuses and eat lots of dairy. I thought they were some bizarre refluxed bits of food returning from my stomach, so bits of processed bile or worse! Recently I bravely asked my b-friend if he gets them? Crickets.

Shawna, it sounds like a tonsil stone. Where the hole is is where bacteria gets trapped, and if it stays in there for long enough, it hardens into a small mass. The stuff that oozed out after that is bacteria that hasn’t had time to harden.

I get these nearly daily, it’s awful. I started getting them in my early 20’s. For me, they’re related to my allergies. I take allergy meds daily, but generally am still super sneezy, etc…Because of the post nasal drip I have from the allergies, it collects in the gross holes in and around my tonsils and hardens into these delightful little disgusting stones. I have become very adept at getting them out-it’s gross, but I just do it with my fingers. I either push on the tonsil to get them out or use my fingernail to catch a part of it or scrape it. I also find that the mirror in my car is best for it, since it’s lighted and you can angle it…So gross, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get rid of them, right???
My breath isn’t particularly bad, but I think that’s because I’m like a detective every dang day taking these little guys out, often before they have time to harden, so they’re not super sulfuric. I know where they are most likely to form in my mouth, so I always check those areas, but I also routinely move those little folds of skin above/in front of my tonsils to make sure there are none behind there, either. I can feel one now somewhere in my throat but it’s not big enough for me to see it yet. I just have to try to not think about it for a day or two, and I’m sure it will present it’s nasty little self…
Glad I’m not alone!

I haven’t ate Pringles in over 2 years because I thought they were the reason and kept getting caught in my throat. Guess not this is my real problem. 22 and have experienced this around 3 or 4 times over the past 2 years

I’ve suffered for years – tried everything – the only thing that I’ve found that truly works is being proactive with removal. If you stay on it, your tonsils will become less swollen, which for me, resulted in the stones leaving completely for many months at a time (I will get them back and repeat).

The best method for removal I have found is a little extraction tool with a light at the end that I found on Amazon. You can find it if you go there and search “tonsil stones”. Much better than anything else I have tried including cotton swabs and a flashlight, gargling, poking with your fingers, etc. It’s a clever/convenient little design for this purpose and well worth it!

After years of dealing with these and the bad breath and horrible taste in my mouth I finally had my tonsils removed. I know a bit drastic but having a strong gag reflex I was never able to get close enough to them to get them out by pushing. According to my Dr my tonsils were “nasty” so I’m glad I did it.

I used to cough these up as a kid and my mum called them “food lumps”. Now I get them quite regularly in my 20’s and I have to used a cotton wool bud to poke them out and them gargle so it cleans my throat out. Problem is when I do it, my throat bleeds! This can’t be good and I’ve noticed it’s always on my right tonsil and it does look a bit more swollen than it should. I use Listerine but have recently been using Cordysil mouth wash (which apparently stains your teeth, great!). The Dr – well nurse just called them “pockets of food” and apparently a mouth specialist won’t do anything about it! I really want to just have my tonsils removed so they go away forever but that might be worse and I might be to old to have them removed now.

I first got these things when I was like eight, and I thought they were little balls of cancer. I was freaking out so I grabbed the nearest object, which was a spoon, and ran to a mirror. I used the back of the spoon to dig it out. I was so worried that I through the spoon out and ran to tell my mom . (Turns out I was fine lol)

I’m 18 been getting them since 17 never freaked out about them thought it was normal. Never asked my parents about them, but today like everyone else, we had enough and it drive us crazy to find the answers

I’m only eleven and I have been getting them for ever. It was jut 6. Months ago I realized they were coming from the back of my throat. Ithough it was coming from boiled peanuts that I ate. They make my throat hurt and make my breath smell. Enen after brushing

Omg! Just left my dental office and my doc told me I had white bumps in the back of my throat. He said he wanted to see me in 2 weeks and if these bionic stink bombs ( what I call them) were still present he would refer me out to have them surgically removed! So I get home and after googling this I called my dog into the bathroom with me (he’s a trained medical dog). I decided to gargle first, did nothing. Then I took a booger bulb ( thing they give you at the hospital to take your babies boogers out) as it made me gagged and gagged and gagged where I almost felt them coming out. I was so involved in concentrating taking them out that when I looked up into the mirror I saw 3 fireman staring butt naked at me. So embarrassed by it all, I was told they got an emergency response from this address and they were there to help! Just then those bionic stink bombs arrived on the scene. I threw them up and grabbed the nearest towel for cover and told them the call was a false alarm! I was sooooooo embarrassed that I did not want them to go near me or my bionic stinkers! They wanted to check the house for “fires” and I told them not necessary. Back to my doc. When I see him in two weeks he will see they are gone but I’m too embarrassed to tell him I took them out myself! Thank god I’m not alone!

I have had these for 2 years now but I only spit out two. I am 11 now and I actually spit one out in class TODAY! I asked the teacher and someone overheard me and told me about them. I decided to look them up and that’s how I ended up here.

I used to have this problem, but found that if I didn’t have milk products that I didn’t get them. So, maybe Tonsil Stones are a sign of people having an allergy or intolerance? Then I went on the GAPS diet, to heal gut dysbiosis, several years ago and now find I can have dairy (mostly raw milk products) without having an issue i.e. no matter what I eat, I never get these anymore.

I had my tonsils removed when I was 6… I’m 45 now and don’t have tonsils but have what I call splits where they use to be…I do still get these nasty things and glad to know I’m not the only one. ..I can always tell when they are back… Either one side or both feels sore. .. so I take a long qtip and wet the end and run it down thru the split on each side. .. in between gagging. … but hey just having them removed does not guarantee to not get them

I’m 54 and first discovered I had these when I was 11 but didn’t know what they were till last year. I have never been able to see them, even with a torch, so removing them isn’t an option and nothing else seems to work. Some days I can’t even stand my own disgusting breath. I’m at my wits end with them. I call them my “barnacles”

I have had throat stones all my life & finally I am free of them in the last 6 months.
Take a high quality pure Zinc Tablet (No herbs or anything else in it) on an empty stomach.
You take Zinc at higher does for a short period of time, however, do your own research on this.
I also changed my bodies PH level via Raw Apple Cider Vinegar & Bicarb Soda.
By doing these 3 things I have gotten rid of them.
Everyone’s body is different & responds differently, all I know is this has worked for me, hence I thought I would share it.
I also experimented & stopped the Zinc & the other things for a month & they came back, so I know for my body I am on the right track.
Good Luck.
I hope this works for other sufferers.

Omg!! I am so glad i decided to search this after one of the bigger ones came up tonight. THEY ARE AWEFUL!!! I have started getting these in the last few months, & im like what is going on with me now, what is this stuff coming from my throat & hurts after i cough them up for few hours, my ears too sometimes. But the smell; OMG… the smell is AWEFUL! !!
And worried me the most. Cuz when there is an oder thats usually means infection. Which when i was a kid i always had strep then when i became adult it was tonsilitis all the time. And now i have smelly, gross, things coming out of my throat. FUN TIMES!! But so relieved its quite common. So thanks all for having these too!!! Thank you for this article & thank you its nothing serious. Disgusting; but not serious. I wish all of you luck on conquering the demise of these tonsil stones. after reading all these comments , & laughing about it now, after being so freaked out,. Im gonna ask my kids if they ever get thes. Lol

I’ve suffered from tonsils my whol life. About a year ago my DDS turned me onto a mouth wash called CloSyst, it’s amazing and it’s so mild it’s like rinsing with water. Even my 9 year old uses it. My bad breath and tonsil stones are gone! I get mine at Walgreens.

I noticed my first stone about a month ago for the very first time when I felt something stuck in the back of my throat. I opened my mouth and saw a giant white spot and immediately got so freaked out!! I asked my dad to try to pop it with a toothpick and it ended up falling out! I’m so glad I found this article, no one I know has ever had these and I thought I was alone!! I found it odd I just started getting them (just pulled out another today) until I read the comment about vitamins. About two months ago I started taking a daily multivitamin for the first time and it was shortly after I got my first stone. About 3 days ago I took emergen-c and I had another stone again!! Hopefully if I cut back on the vitamins these foul smelling stones will leave me alone forever lol

These little white nasty things have destroyed my throat. I swear mine are huge, nasty, and smelly! And some are so that they leave holes! And I don’t think they caused me bad breath somehow because I always brush my teeth and tonge really well but I also do check for them everyday! And I know when I get one because I feel it and it feels so annoying I swear one time I sticked my hand in throat just to get the thing out! Ugh! I’m glad I’m not the only one!

Every so often it happens to me. The other night it did as I was coughing. Sometimes they would look like little tiny squares. The other night there were 2 tiny squares and a large chunk. The smell, of course, is horrid. It’s been so long since that happened and I wished I had a microscope to look closely at it. In all my honesty, I was freaking out thinking it was bits of tapeworm! I have such a fear and phobia about worms and thought I would google this. I am much relieved now.

I had this problem for about two years, and yes people can be very mean, and I was super embarrased about my breath, it was affecting me big time. The issue for me is that I could get the ones in front but I could not get the ones on the back of the tonsil, so I had to wait until they grew so big and then came off they were huge by then! So I went to see a specialist and had my tonsils removed. I am still recovering but I will tell you if you dont want this problem just get your tonsils removed.

Thanks for the post. I ate something a few days ago JUST as someone made me laugh and the food went down and up .. felt like it had wedged itself in my tonsils and larynx. One of these appeared exactly where I caused irritation. My dentist noticed it and asked if i had a cold recently and I couldn’t recall a recent one. Never had tonsillitis or one of these before. I’ll try to remove it through your recommended ways. Thanks.

I used to have a bad problem with these for years until my dentis had me use a special fluoride mouthwash for gum disease. After about a month of using it I noticed I wasn’t getting them anymore. Before that though, I had stopped eating sugar, and almost all dair, and that helped quite a bit.

I had this problem since I was 12 yrs old and my younger sister was always laughing at me because she’ll hear me cough /struggle to get them out. I’m now 32 and still having them. I visited doctors 10 times and no one gave me an answer, am now glad after reading this article because I thought it was not normal. Thanks very much for sharing this helpful info with us.

It’s 12:28AM right now and I have one in my mouth that I’ve been trying to get out for almost in hour! I’m in my room doing homework and don’t want to go to the bathroom yet. I’ve been using my tongue to get it out and I think I’ve finally given up. I’m getting up to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW!

Thank you so much for this article. I am 38 years old and never had these in my lifetime until now. They just came all of a sudden a few months ago. I was wondering what they were. I thought something was happening to my throat. I would just cough and they would fly out of my mouth. Today I sneezed and the biggest one yet flew right out of my mouth. Thank goodness I was in my office and not around other prople. It would have been so embarrassing. The smell is so aweful. This explains why my breathe would smell so much. My son and boyfriend would tell me that my beath is smelling and I would brush and it would still smell bad.

I will try one of the solutions posted because the bad breath is really a bad thing and I want to get rid of this.

I have learnt and tried this and it works. Gargling some diluted Hydrogen Peroxide is very effective in getting them out. This is not a cure but helps to get them out and your mouth feels exceptionally clean thereafter.

I also get these things.. glad to know I’m not alone but I only get them on the left side. I NEVER get them on the right side. I shined a flashlight down my throat while looking in a mirror and it looks like there’s no hole in my tonsil on the right side but there’s two on the left. Is that a problem? Suggestions?….

I’ve asked my sister and mother if they ever got ‘those gross white things that come up… and they smell awful…’ but nope, no bells of recognition from them. I always get them out by doing this really throaty prolonged choking thing that makes it sound like I’m coughing up hairballs. It earns some spectacular looks.

I stumbled on this article and wow! I always just thought they were little flecks of vomit due to the smell. I used to get them all the time as a kid but I can’t remember coughing one up as an adult. Maybe because I smoke pot? Hmmm…I wonder.

I always thought that these were pieces of food being coughed up, too. I questioned the foul smell, but never enough to mention to my Dr. I do this a lot. But never necessarily have any issues with my throat aching, etc. Should I consult my Doc?

I THINK I FOUND A SOLUTION!
I have had tonsil stones since I was a young girl. Sometimes you can poke them out, but other times you can’t even see they are there. I’ve tried a lot of home remedies. I recently read that Oil of Oregano is a miracle cure for colds and throat infections. I tried it straight up. It tasted terrible and burned a bit. However, two days later a stone dislodged. I now use it as mouth wash by diluting several drops in salt water and gargling with it in the morning. It’s also help fight cavities and gum disease. This seems to work and it beats surgery! You can buy it online at Vitacost.com it’s called certified organic oil of oregano by natural factors. If you happen to try it I’d love to here your comments.

I THINK I FOUND A SOLUTION!
I have had tonsil stones since I was a young girl. Sometimes you can poke them out, but other times you can’t even see they are there. I’ve tried a lot of home remedies. I recently read that Oil of Oregano is a miracle cure for colds and throat infections. I tried it straight up. It tasted terrible and burned a bit. However, two days later a stone dislodged. I now use it as mouth wash by diluting several drops in salt water and gargling with it in the morning. It’s also help fight cavities and gum disease. This seems to work and it beats surgery! You can buy it online at Vitacost.com it’s called certified organic oil of oregano by natural factors. If you happen to try it I’d love to hear your comments.

I get these a LOT. I use to be able to just suck on my tonsils and they’d come out, but recently they started growin under the skin of my right tonsil, and from then on its been getting bigger, I really wanna ask my mom to take me somewhere that I can just get the darn thing removed but she complains about the price and tells me to just pick at it, which feels physically impossible because of my gag reflex. I’m at a loss of options, and in a pretty big amount of pain right now, none of the gargling with salt water or stuff works, I’ve tried it! I’m done! I want my tonsils gone, I’ve had enough tbh.

i am so greatfull for this post. I Had these throat demons since the age of 10 and always thought they were pieces of ‘ugali’ or fermented milk (Kenyan btw) that failed to go down the gut. The first time i coughed one out was in a classroom, but no one was watching so i braved picking it up and sniffing at it. My God! how could no one ever tell me that something could smell this bad! It actually defies description. its one of those things you have to smell in order to believe! but to fairly describe it, It smelled like a dead skunk in a dog’s poop.. I actually developed a way to get rid of them by sucking on my throat.. I never told anyone since it was so embarrassing and gross too. however, a friend once told me he had the same things.. i have had bad breath a few times though, of which i would always clean after. cleaning my mouth has been religious since then. Thanks for this post. now i know its common and equally normal..The names you guys give are so funny.”exactiles” hahaha